Veteran music composer and singer Bappi Lahiri passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday but for his fans, his legacy is immortal. Composing and singing some of the biggest hits of the 1980s, Bappi Da was known as the ‘Disco King’ of Bollywood. Bappi Da became known for his inimitable voice and even his musical style was so distinct that his fans could identify his beats in a few seconds. Bappi Da introduced Hindi film music to the trend of disco which gave us some of the best foot-tapping numbers of the 1980s.
Bappi Lahiri’s name has a certain musical rhythm to it but this wasn’t his official name. He was born as Alokesh Lahiri, and eventually adopted Bappi as his name.
Bappi Lahiri got immense success as a musician but it seems like he was blessed by maternal uncle Kishore Kumar. On a musical reality show, Bappi Da had shared that even though they were not related by blood, (Kishore Da’s mother saw Bappi Da’s mother as a daughter) he was the closest to him, even more than his own sons Amit Kumar and Sumit Kumar. Bappi often narrated stories of his childhood years spent with his ‘mama’. In fact, every year, Bappi threw a small celebration in Kishore Da’s honour on his birthday. Videos from some of those gatherings are shared on Bappi Da’s Instagram handle.
Bappi Lahiri was known for his signature style off-camera but not many know that he had a short stint as an actor too. In 1974, Bappi Lahiri made his debut in the movies in Kishore Kumar directorial Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi. Bappi Da had shared an archival photo from the shoot on his social media.
In a landmark copyright case, Bappi Da sued American rapper Dr Dre after he copied the tune of ‘Kaliyon Ka Chaman’ for his album Addictive. Later, Dr Dre credited Bappi Lahiri on the album. The Disco Dancer composer told Hindustan Times in 2009, “Dr Dre used my song Kaliyon ka Chaman in his album Addictive, for which I sued him. But he gave credits afterwards, so it’s okay and I am happy.”
Bappi Lahiri’s last composition was released in September 2021. The composer made music for devotional song Ganpati Bappa Morya and shared it on his social media handles. The track was sung by Anuradha Juju.
Bappi Lahiri joined Bhartiya Janata Party in 2014. He contested from the Lok Sabha seat of Srerampur but lost to Kalyan Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress.
The Indian Express
